What makes a good Catholic?  Is it someone who goes to Mass every Sunday?  Maybe that person also attends regular weekday services?  What about somebody who receives the Sacrament of Reconciliation once a month?  Or once a week?  Is it someone who gives of his or her time, talent, and treasure to the Church and/or the poor?  These same people, who do exist, are all sinners as well.  That same person in the pew on Sundays could have been gambling away the last of their savings the previous night.  A familiar face in the Confessional line could be there because of light matters, or weighty, habitual offenses to God of which he or she has trouble letting go.  Speaking from personal experience, I know there are some sins I have Confessed to multiple times.  Finally, some of the most murderous people in history have also been viewed by some as the most generous, from despots to mobsters.  We can be all these things and none of them, and in many ways, this all describes Jan Lewan (Jack Black), The Polka King (2017).

It is fitting that The Polka King, which is based on a true story, begins with Jan and his band playing the title genre of music.  After the show, an older woman comes to ask for a picture with him, and Jan relates how he came to the United States from Poland and worked his way up from nothing.  When his wife and former beauty queen, Marla Lewan (Jenny Slate), joins them, she relates how the unlikely pair met on a local Pennsylvania telethon.  It was apparent love at first sight, and the two began building a life together.  Much to Marla’s mother’s, Barb (Jacki Weaver), annoyance and horror, that life involves running a Polish-themed trinket store and playing music wherever they can get paid.  In Barb’s view, they should be pursuing steadier jobs with benefits instead of moving her home to take care of David (Robert Capron), the Lewan’s son, as Jan and Marla pursue their dreams.  It is not solely Barb voicing concerns.  Another is their lead clarinetist, Mickey Stutz (Jason Schwartzman), who is worried about the lack of pay Jan is doling out for their gigs.  These various forces put pressure on Jan to move forward with his envisioned “polka empire,” and he starts to look for sources of revenue outside of the band’s fee.  When an elderly couple comes to the store and asks to invest in his future, he gets the idea of doing more such fund raising.  Writing promissory notes for a 12 percent return, he is now bringing in the money he desires.  It soon brings him more investors, mostly retirees, who are taken in by his enchantments.  It does not take long for the government to begin noticing the financial transactions, and an investigator is sent in the form of Ron Edwards (J.B. Smoove) in order to inform Jan as to the law.  While Jan welcomes Ron, the agent of the government points out that the investment program is illegal and that Jan will have to give back all the money.  Since Jan has already used the cash for various things, he knows that will be a problem.  Instead of returning the checks, he chooses concealment.  This includes from Marla.  Upon asking as to the reason for his stress, he admits to some problems, but chalks it up as only requiring paperwork.  After his three-day compliance window ends, Rob calls and Jan claims to have left behind his swindling ways.  The government thus satisfied, it quickly follows that the original couple comes to him wanting to give him more money.  With some hesitation, he takes their check, but this time under the guise of a new enterprise.  Telling them to only inform select friends who can keep a secret as to how much they will make, he expands his operations.  To this Catholic’s delight and shock, it includes a tour of European capitals and a promised private audience with the pope.  The shocking part comes from the fact that he has to bribe Vatican officials in order to make this happen.  Because Mickey helps Jan, the clarinetist expresses doubts as to Jan’s honesty.  In order to pacify Mickey, Jan allows his friend and musician to change his stage name to Mickey Pizzazz.  The fact that he is able to pull off the stunt is probably the pinnacle of his career, but Marla feels like she is being left out of the limelight.  As such, she informs the family that she intends to enter the Mrs. Pennsylvania beauty contest.  This is the last insult for Barb, who angrily leaves and accuses Jan of being a drug dealer.  Jan is not guilty of that crime, but he does support Marla with his ill-gotten gains to train for the competition.  Bringing all the investors to the show in buses, which makes them suspicious, he bribes pageant officials in order to ensure Marla’s victory.  The scandal this brings to the Lewans causes investors to begin pulling their money, which he cannot provide.  In order to make up for it, he envisions a national tour.  Unfortunately, with David with him, their bus crashes and the young man ends up on life support.  Jan blames himself and prays that God punishes him instead of his son.  Jan does not have long to wait as Ron arrives to take him into custody, with David opening his eyes as dad is being handcuffed.  Jan is sentenced to five years in prison, during which Marla divorces him.  Yet, upon being released, he is picked up by David and Mickey with a new sound to his music called “polka rap.”  The film ends with the cinematic and real versions of Jan performing the resulting song on stage.

I am not sure as to how much the cinematic and real versions of The Polka King match one another, but they seem to be pretty close.  I am judging that only by what I saw with the shots of the actual Jan Lewan seen during the end credits.  The only disappointing image from that sequence is when he is pictured with Trump, but I digress.  What I am less disappointed with is the specifically Catholic aspects of the movie.  This should not be surprising.  Jan hails from Poland, one of the more Catholic countries in the world.  We see this reflected in some of the Catholic memorabilia he has for sale in his shop.  One of the most popular popes of all time, St. Pope John Paul the Great, was from the central European country.  Still, what does that mean?  It is a question I wrestled with in the introduction because it can be argued that if one were serious about the Faith, such a person would not commit fraud at all, let alone to the degree that Jan did.  What I found most interesting about how his story is told is that we see him going to Confession a couple times for what he is doing.  Put differently, he knows his actions are wrong.  That is the case for many, and it helps as a start of contrition.  On the other hand, Jan’s attempts at Reconciliation are not particularly successful.  That is not to say that once someone tells a priest their transgressions, that person will never sin again, despite the admonition not to do so at the end of the process.  The reason Jan’s usage of the Sacrament is ineffective is because he is not honest during it.  Like any relationship, especially one with God, you need to be open about everything on your heart.  Jan does not do this, and his sins not only continue but increase.  It is not until his son is laying on a hospital bed that he is finally truthful, telling God to take him instead.  The temptation is to look at this moment as a coincidence, but God knows better.

And I do not know a better way of telling the story of The Polka King.  It is delightfully earnest and silly, but also tragic.  That it has the Catholic aspects I mentioned make it a stronger recommendation from me.